OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is "surprised and disappointed" by Liberal MP Jody Wilson-Raybould's resignation from cabinet.
Wilson-Raybould resigned "with a heavy heart" Tuesday and announced she is seeking legal advice on speaking publicly about the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
Her high-profile departure from Trudeau's front bench came amid ongoing questions over whether the prime minister or anyone in his office tried to pressure Wilson-Raybould to abandon the prosecution of a case against SNC-Lavalin when she was justice minister and attorney general. Trudeau said Tuesday evening that he was "both surprised and disappointed by her decision to step down," because her resignation was "not consistent" with their recent conversations.
The Globe and Mail reported last week that the Prime Minister's Office allegedly tried to influence Wilson-Raybould to ask prosecutors to make a deal to pursue a remediation agreement rather than a criminal prosecution in the corruption and fraud case against the Quebec-based engineering and construction company. CTV News has not independently verified the story.
Trudeau has denied it, and to date Wilson-Raybould has said that, as the former AG, she is "bound by solicitor-client privilege in this matter," and has not commented to either confirm or deny reports she was pressured.
On the question of the SNC-Lavalin case, Trudeau said "the government of Canada did its job," followed the rules, and that if any member of the government felt differently they had an obligation to raise that with him, and no one did, Wilson-Raybould included.
"She said nothing of that to me," Trudeau said.
Remediation agreements are a relatively new mechanism in Canada. The Liberals amended the Criminal Code through an omnibus bill in 2018 to implement what are also referred to as Deferred Prosecution Agreements. If the company was convicted they'd be banned from securing Canadian government contracts for a decade, potentially putting Canadian jobs on the line.
"I… to be honest don’t entirely understand why Jody Wilson-Raybould made the decision that she did," Trudeau said about her resignation. "I continue to be puzzled."
His comments were the most involved he has offered to date on the affair that has rocked Parliament Hill.
Trudeau's office said the prime minister was made aware Monday night that Wilson-Raybould would be resigning from cabinet. Trudeau called an emergency teleconference cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss her departure.
On Monday, Trudeau said that that he still had "full confidence" in Wilson-Raybould and that he respected her citing solicitor-client privilege as the reason why she has not yet publicly commented on the reported allegations.
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